Clothing That Tells Your Story

Birka, ahoy!

There is a LOT going on at Storied Threads lately. This weekend, we’ll be vending at the Market Day at Birka, up in New Hampshire for the first time. I’ve spent a good chunk of my January trying to build up stock for this event, and I have to admit, I still feel under-prepared. I wanted to build more sideless surcoats and tunics and such, and there just wasn’t as much time as I thought there would be. Oh! And, of course, the fact that my serger bit the dust last weekend didn’t help. I had planned to bring it into the shop Saturday afternoon for repairs but (fun story!) my dog ate sunscreen, I had to make her vomit, and then we went to the emergency room. By the time we got back, the repair shop was closed, so that outing was put off until this coming Friday. I’ll drop it off on my way to NH instead, and hopefully get it back quickly.

What I DO have, though, are quite a lot of hats. I’ve built up some flat caps, and fur-lined Barbarossa hats, and New and Improved arming caps that fit MUCH nicer than my old ones. (I still have a few of the old style. Those will be for sale, too, at a greatly discounted price.) I also have three lovely new pick-up skirts, a lot of belt pouches, and lots and lots more.

In other “unprepared for Birka” news, I do not have the clothing racks I had expected to have. I have one small collapsible rack, but I wanted two, and I wanted them to be a bit better quality than the one I have. So I googled around, and found a few being sold through Amazon. The one I chose looked really good, was a nice size, very sturdy looking, and had lots of GREAT reviews. So, at the beginning of January, I ordered two of them, imagining I’d have them in plenty of time, right? The seller (who was not Amazon themselves, but a shady operation called NEED A RACK ONLINE (yes they spell it in all caps)) notified me on the 7th that it had shipped via FedEx. Yay! Except that I still haven’t gotten my racks now, on the 25th. And despite 9 voice mails and 5 e-mails, they have yet to respond to me at all. Not even to give me the alleged FedEx tracking number. So, consider yourselves warned — don’t buy a clothing rack from these people! As soon as I get my money back, I’ll be writing them a lovely negative review over at Amazon.

All of these are incidentals, though. Despite the serger, and despite the rack fiasco, and despite missing my traditional Friday night date night with my husband, I’m really, really looking forward to Birka this weekend. I had a lot of fun there as a patron last year, if the preliminary lay-out I saw holds true, I’m sharing my island of tables with another fantastic vendor, and I love the idea of a show in the middle of the winter. Hope to see you all there!